


He Lacked the Words

by Higuu



Series: Emmo Deserves Better [2]
Category: Clutter Dimension
Genre: Abuse, Bodily Harm, Coercion, Dissociation, Gen, Mild Gore, Murder, Neglect, gonna be safe and tag that as Graphic Violence, mentions of abuse, threats of murder
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-06
Updated: 2020-05-06
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:08:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23977984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Higuu/pseuds/Higuu
Summary: "Kh… keh! Kehehe! Hehehehahahaha! Ho~~~ly shit, Baby, I thought you didn't have it in you! You're a fuckin' riot!""Emmo! The groveling, wimpy crybaby, actually standing up for themselves!""N-No! Don't— just because they treat you like a God doesn't mean that you could just— kill them!"It was just supposed to be a quick visit. Coming back was a bad decision.**CURRENTLY REWRITING!! BC THIS QUALITY IS SHIT AND I NEED TO DO BETTER.
Series: Emmo Deserves Better [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1727989





	He Lacked the Words

**Author's Note:**

> Title is from "It Took Me by Surprise" By Maria Mena. This takes place quite a bit earlier than Their Sins had Killed the Fish, because at this point... Puzzle doesn't really have a conscience. 
> 
> Enjoy!

It had meant to be a quick visit. 

Simple. In-and-out. Maybe bring a couple people with… 

They didn't really think that they'd run into anybody unsavory. The Cities were always ordered— chillingly so— so there was no reason to worry about it. 

They'd been doing so well. 

So why _now?_ Why _here?_ Why _him?_

 **_Hurt him,_ ** it whispered into their ears, **_pay him back for what he did to you. He deserves it. You know he does._ **

But that wouldn't do. They couldn't just… they couldn't just _attack_ him! They didn't want to be like… 

**_Like him._ **

They couldn't move. Their joints were stiff, frozen, painful and shivery and _oh they were so_ **_scared,_ ** _he was back and he was going to_ **_hurt them_ ** _, this was bad this was bad this was bad this was—_

"Hey, baby-child." 

_Whiplash._

"Fancy seeing you here, huh?"

 _He's… he's not…_ **_he's stuck here. You're not trapped anymore. You could do it. You could make him pay. Do it. Do it. Do it do it do it doit doit doit doitdoitdoitdoit!_ **

The robotic arms attached to his back were ever so slightly raised in a silent threat. "Really, though. How did you get in? Why? You made it pretty clear that you never wanted to see me again, so—"

 _"Axi is still here,"_ They hiss through their proverbial teeth. 

"Oh? So you're going to steal something from me? Now, now, baby—"

"Perhaps you _forget,_ Puzzle. I'm not a child anymore. Or maybe you _never thought_ I was? I can't imagine anybody would do things like that to a **_child_** _."_

The words didn't seem to hit, as Puzzle merely shrugs and continues to grin at them. "Perhaps _you_ forgot, then, that I _created_ you. I built you to be the _perfect little follower_ — Never took into consideration what would happen if I let you free on the Plane-World. I couldn't have thought that you'd get fancy ideas of _rebellion_." 

Emmo's fists tighten, metal scratching shiny spots. 

"Maybe I should visit the Puppets that gave you those? They certainly can't _complain,_ after all— I mean, I'm practically a **_god_ **—"

The words were silenced when a clattering of metal on metal echoed, and his Suit arms blocked a punch. 

"Kh… keh! Kehehe! Hehehehahahaha! Ho~~~ly _shit,_ Baby, I thought you didn't have it in you! You're a fuckin' **riot**!"

Slowly, his grip tightens on the fist. "Really! Wow! Never thought I'd see the day… Emmo! The groveling, wimpy crybaby, actually _standing up for themselves_!" the metal protests as their fist starts collapsing, but Emmo doesn't even flinch. 

"Too bad you didn't do it somewhere _else!_ Gosh, I'd _love_ to lock you up again, but there's just _too many witnesses._ " Puzzle scans the streets, giving a predatory grin to a bystander. 

_"N-No!"_ Emmo hisses, static leaking into their voice as the panic begins to overwhelm them. _"Don't— just because they treat you like a God doesn't mean that you could just— kill them!"_

"Ohoho, that's where you're _wrong,_ dear child. They don't _treat_ me like a god," He twists their mangled hand, metal screeching from tension. "I _am_ a god." His laughter was slow, gradual, starting from snickers and eventually building up into straight-up cackling. 

_"And you couldn't do anything to save them if you tried."_

— **—-—** —

_Sounds of splintering bone and tearing flesh is all that they can hear. It's everywhere. It's horrible, nauseating, disgusting— and yet the victims all line up, perfectly content with their fates, smiles plastered onto their faces. How they threw their life away so easily, so readily, the moment that their God commanded them to…_

**It was sickening.**

The voices have all muted, too shocked by this turn of events to continue jeering into their ears. Too shocked by the consequences of what they had endorsed.

" _Please—_ _god, stop it, make it stop, please make it stop make it stop make it stop—"_ They cry, curling into themselves. " _Stop it. Stop, stop stop stop stop stop stop—"_

_They're back again. They're back in a swirling mess of blood and guts and gore, and it's all their fault. It's all their fault, they should have listened to him, if they had just listened to him then he wouldn't have had to do this, it was all their fault, god, it was all their fault why couldn't they ever listen?_

"Aw, Baby," He purred, a bloodied palm caressing their face, "You know that's not enough for me~ could you beg a little, too? Otherwise I might just… my hands might slip again, you know~?"

_They had to listen. They had to listen or else he would keep punishing them, he would keep doing this, because he had to. Because they were bad and this was what happened to bad things, they had to watch as the good things got hurt and they had to watch and know that it was their fault, it was all their fault because they were bad and this is what happened…_

"Please, please—" Emmo sobs, burying their face in their undamaged hand. They'd long since lost track of the other one, and in the back of their consciousness they supposed it had been torn off and discarded to the asphalt a while ago. "Please stop. _Please, Puzzle, I'll do_ **_anything,_ ** just _stop hurting them!"_

_And when they finally stopped being bad, everything would be fine, everybody would be happy. The good things would hug them, even though they were still bad, they were still bad and it was their fault that the good things were hurt, and like the bad thing they were, they cried over the good things' bodies, their rough metal hands pressing against their skin and hurting the good things even more, they were bad they were bad they were bad—_

"Oh~?" He chuckles, grip on the sides of their head tightening. "Alright then… let's start with you looking at me, Hmmm~? I thought we'd already went over this… eye contact is important, hun!"

_And the very first thing that the bad thing got after being punished was a long, warm hug, a nice thing that they didn't deserve, as he held them and whispered into their ear about how this was the last time, he believed in them, they could do it. That it was alright and even though they were bad sometimes, they could be good, too, and even though it was their fault he was going to help them. He had always helped them._

They raised their face, fear staining their expression. If they were a natural being, they might have been crying. They had learned long ago that not having the option was a boon, sometimes. 

_After all, he had to. They were a nuisance, but they were his responsibility, and he had to put up with them. He had to make sure that they were good because otherwise they would make bad things happen, and he didn't want them to do that, they didn't want to do that, nobody wanted bad things, nobody…_

"Ah ah ah, that's no good, is it? I'm going to have to train you again, aren't I? I'm not scary… You know what I'd prefer, yes~? After all…" His fingers slip around the dial on the side of their head, grinning wickedly. "I'd never hurt you."

 _Nobody wanted them, either, because they were a bad thing. They were a bad thing, but he cared about them. He cared. He had to. He was all they had, he always was, he had to care he always helped he had to help they were a nuisance and annoying and useless and why couldn't they just_ **_listen?_ **

Emmo blacks out with with a click in their head and lies ringing through their ears. 

— **—-—** —

Everything was pitch when they woke up. They were back. 

It had been a very long time since he had done this to them. They almost thought that he'd given up on doing it, entirely. 

But he'd moved back to old habits. The original things. When he hadn't thought to even acknowledge them, not thought that perhaps they were different than the others that he'd made. 

Being left alone was horrible. Being left in an endless, lightless void was horrible. Being left at all was _horrible._

They'd never even approached to getting over the fear. It was so rare to find complete, all-encompassing darkness. Even in space there were stars. 

Time was very hard to grasp in here, it was impossible to tell whether it had been a day or a week, month, or even year. They'd never had a natural clock, they weren't truly a _living thing_ , because at their core they were _code—_ code didn't need to sleep or breathe or eat to exist, all code needed was enough power reserves until it could hook into the next outlet, or a place to stay until it was moved into a computer again and activated. 

No sleep cycle, no day or night cycle, not even their internal clock was working. _He must have switched it off, the touchy bastard._

They'd just waited for a very, very long time. Wait and wait and wait as they spiraled into doubt, _would he even bother getting them this time? Would he even care? Would they be left to rot for good?_

They didn't know their way around this place, not really— it's very hard to navigate a place with zero landmarks or color differences or compass directions— up was right, down was up, and left led into another plane of reality. 

And as they focused on forcing their body to move in a wretched imitation of breathing, up and down, up and down, tense and relax over and over and over and over and over and over and—! 

They were wheezing, no matter how impossible that would be without lungs… they were curled up in the darkness, wheezing, trying to calm down, calm down calm down bad things happen when you can't calm down so you have to be quick and make sure he can't punish you again, because yes your back in the blank-void and back to the no-light and back to the horrible uncertainty that everything truly is your fault and- and- and--! 

Emmo unclenched their fists, relishing the warm comfort of oil dripping down their palms… just barely stopping themselves from spilling more, because _stars above, stars above they just wanted to be warm it was just so cold here and it's so painful and everything hurts, everything always hurts here…_

And they freeze when they roll over into a puddle of cold, a puddle invisible in the darkness, smelling of iron and salt and just a hint of panic, just a faint tinge of raw _emotion…_

It was too much. 

They couldn't see. 

They couldn't hear. 

They… 

Just…

  
  
  
  


**_Screamed._ **


End file.
